Hello December

Sweater: thrifted, Top: thrifted, Skirt: Walmart,

Tights: Target, Shoes: Thrifted

Welcome to December everyone! I can't believe how fast 2013 has gone. It baffles me that this is actually the last month of the year. With only three and a half weeks until my school goes on Christmas break, I'm feeling a mix of excitement and anxiety. I love finding presents for my friends, but living in the middle of nowhere means I don't have the luxury of just going to the mall after school. Time management is going to play a big roll in the following weeks. 

I am so excited for Christmas this year because things are going to be a little different. Normally we spend Christmas in Kentucky with my grandparents, but my mom's new job doesn't allow her time off to travel during the holidays, so instead we will be spending Christmas here in Virginia. It should be interesting, and though I am going to miss my family, I am so excited about decorating the house! We rarely put up a tree because we aren't normally here to appreciate it, so this year we get to actually act like a normal family.

How are you preparing for the holiday season? 

Thrift Shopping: Coach Sneakers Edition

             I am so excited about my latest trip to a local thrift store. My mom and I were on our way home from Walmart and I was just stopping by the thrift store to pick up an old picture frame, (for a later blog post...), when I saw one of the greatest things I have ever seen. On the door was  a yellow sheet of paper that read, "20% of everything you can fit in the bag."
            So maybe I'm being a bit dramatic when I saw, "one of the greatest things I have ever seen", but I was really excited non-the less. I found the picture frame first - making sure to stay on track - before grabbing a brown paper bag and going to town. I ended up with three pairs of shoes, two shirts, a dress, the frame, and then my mom threw a shirt for her in the bag. My favorite purchase of of the day, was of course, the Coach shoes at $3.25.
           Now, I wouldn't call myself a label whore, I prefer the term label lover, but I am a HUGE fan of finding labels for good prices, and Coach is one of my favorite labels. You don't really find it very often at thrift stores in my area, so I've been admiring from afar... until today that is.

 

 

Of course, with most thrift store shoes, there was the slight problem of wearing. Thankfully, it was just on the out sole of the shoe, so I was able to improve its appearance with a Magic Eraser.

         I'm pretty much in love with these shoes, and I'm actually am torn between wearing them everyday and never wearing them in order to keep them looking nice. The struggle is real...

Expectation Vs. Reality

     Expectation Vs. Reality is a common title for videos and or pictures that display what usually happens when people have high expectations. As hilarious as these tend to be, I've become very aware of how true they are, but in a flip-sided way.
     Last night and into this morning, I spent eight hours (Not including the three hours of sleep I managed to get) with my cheer-leading squad. We had a sleepover at the high school so that we could make all of the run through signs for the football team and show our new coach some of the cheers we had done last year. It honestly sounds like an extremely normal night to me as I am writing this down, but I can't forget the thoughts and feelings that had run around in my head prior to the event.
    I was nervous going into this. I don't have any close friends on the team, and because I have this delusional fear that people find me annoying and don't like me, I was afraid I was going to be a bother to everyone and just end up alone. That was my expectation.
     In fact, this is an expectation I have a lot of the time. I am constantly distancing myself from people because I am afraid they are getting annoyed by me. Mind you, I have never actually been told that I am annoying by anyone other than my brother. So why do I have this fear? I think a part of me feels like everyone is saying that about me behind my back. I mean, let's be honest, most girl fighting is done behind backs and with tongues like swords.
     But the thing is, as far as I know, nobody has a problem with me. Yet I am constantly taking myself out of things hoping to avoid whatever backlash I am expecting.
     Last night was kind of an eyeopener for me. I had fun. Not the kind of fun that you kind of enjoyed but would never do it again, but rather the kind of fun that makes you want to experience that night again. Nobody was bothered by me, in fact I was invited to do things, which sounds simple enough but for someone who was expecting to be spending the night utterly alone it was a big deal.
     It made me start thinking about expectations and how, just like high expectations, low expectations can be utterly wrong as well. I don't think I am the only one with this mindset, rather I'm sure tons of people make themselves loners to avoid whatever it is they are afraid of. Something in our brains tells us that if we are alone no one can hurt us, when we all know that sometimes being alone is just as painful.
     Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we suffer through countless weekends without plans, events spent standing awkwardly alone, and silence?
     If you're like me, the thought of putting yourself out there is terrifying. It seems that I can only truly talk to a stranger when one of my best friends is around, and even then the situation is iffy. I'm the kind of person who will not engage you in conversation, and as sorry as I am for it, I will need you to do it. I don't want to be that person.
     It's just another one of those things that I'm trying to change, but the process is slow.

Walmart Haul

After an entire life spent living with my mother who is actually nicknamed Wally for her abundance of times brought on trips and the amount of time we spend at the chain store, I have finally discovered the Walmart cheat code. I'm pretty certain I flailed when I discovered a section of the store that I had never considered before, but never-the-less I have found out how to spend even less money at the store.

If your family is anything like mine, you will or already have reached an age where you no longer receive palpable gifts on Christmas or your Birthday, but rather gift cards and money. This being the case, I end up with a few common gift cards. I tend to receive either an iTunes gift card, a Chic-Fil-A gift card (I really love the Jesus Chicken...), or a Walmart gift card. I know that a lot of my friends hate when they get Walmart cards, but I have no problem finding things I want. That being said, I recently received a belated birthday gift card from my Aunt and Uncle, and am pretty proud of how well I spent the $25.00 on the card and then the $25.00 I had in my wallet.

I continually read about people who were in love with these Color Whispers by Maybelline so I decided it was time for me to jump on the band wagon. I bought the colors Coral Ambition and Mad for Magenta at $5.94 each.

I had originally gone into the store with a coupon for $5.00 off two Cover Girl eye products and had every intention on using it, but for some reason the self checkout would not accept it. None the less, I decided to stick by the two items I had decided on.

The first was the Cover Girl Eye Enhancers 3-Kit Shadows in Golden Sunset. I really liked these colors and though it isn't as pigmented as I would like, they have a really nice summery feel to them. It ended up costing me $4.44.

The other half of the duo was this Cover Girl Line Exact liquid eyeliner. The last liquid eyeliner I bought was terrible so I'm really hoping this one does well. I like that it has the felt tip like the first one I ever bought. This ended up being $6.24.... Really could have used that coupon.

(Everything else got tested on my hand... hahaha)

Walmart was having a special on this brand of Nail Polish, Sinful Colors, and I was drawn in by there display... I tried to stay away but.... (Let's be honest I was drawn to that like a bee to a flower.) I did end up getting a good price on them, at only $2.97 each and I've been wearing them both for four days now and they have stayed on really well. I got the colors Mint Apple and Lavender.

 

 

I've been in desperate need of my own hairspray, I've been mooching off of my moms for years because I'm extremely lazy, so I figured it was time I got a can of my own. My mom used this brand a few years ago and I found that it works just as well as some of the better known, more expensive brands, for a fraction of the price. It was a mere $1.98. I'm huge supporter of Suave.

I cannot stay away from the clearance aisle at our Walmart. Usually I find some silly things like Rapunzel bracelets for my friend or some funny stickers, but this time I found some really cool headbands for a price that I love. These were just some simple headbands in silver, black, and blue for $1.00. 

I had actually been looking for those fake hair braid headband thingies (I only use the most technical terms on this blog) so when I found this bronze braided headband for $4.48 I thought it was a nice substitute.

I just really adore this butterfly headband and the silver one was just an added bonus. They were well worth $2.00 in my opinion.

The last of my headband extravaganza were these funky black beauties. I'm obsessed with neutrals and love adding a bit of edge to my outfits so these babies are the perfect addition to my collection. They only cost $2.00.

I've recently discovered that the clearance rack at my Walmart sometimes has clothes marked down to just a dollar.This Chambray dress is the perfect example. It was something I had been longing for and it was merely a dollar! Probably my favorite purchase of the day.

Green is one of the colors that I think suits me best, yet I had noticed recently that my wardrobe was lacking it, so I had been looking for opportunities to add it in. This cool tie dyed top fit the bill and was once again only $1.00.

 I'm in love with V-Necks and couldn't turn down the opportunity to buy this basic one for only $2.00. I've already paired it with my overalls and fake floral Dr. Martens.

This pair of blue shorts were again only $1.00 and they are long enough for me to wear them to school in the fall.

Whilst in the clearance aisle I also found this really cute floral bowl. I really can't turn much down when it's a bargain... This was $1.00.

My entire purchase ended up costing me $47.76!

Summer Wish List

     
      Though Summer is well underway at this point, I have suddenly been taken over by an overwhelming need to shop. It's gotten to the point where I have resorted to Internet window shopping. I almost feel like this kind of window shopping is worse than the traditional kind, because I am much more tempted to pull out my credit card and buy everything I put into my online shopping cart.
      I have compiled a list of things I would call "My Summer Wish List" whilst browsing the Internet, and have come up with a few key pieces I would love to add to my wardrobe.

1. This "Kiss Me" ring is really cute and also really affordable at a mere $2.99 at Urban Outfitters.
2. I've been in love with high-waisted shorts for a while now, and have been on the lookout for a pair of mom jeans to convert into a more affordable version of the pair above. The shorts are $39.90 at Windsor.
3. I have fallen in love (once again) with Jellies. This phenomenon has taken over most Tumblr users it seems, and I am a part of the bandwagon. They make me feel young again! This pair is from the girls section at Payless for $14.99.
4. I dress in neutrals a lot, and have been looking for a way to add color to my normally monotone outfits. This neon bag from Forever twenty one kills two birds with one stone, adding color to my outfits and satisfying my love for cross body bags. This bag is $19.80 at Forever 21.
5. Another new obsession that has come into my life is sarcastic t-shirts. They please my sense of humor and have become quite the trend in the past few months. I adore this one from Topshop for $20.00.
6. Bulky necklaces have been around for a while now, but I haven't jumped on the bandwagon until recently. I'm terrible when it comes to jewelry, I tend to wear the same pieces every day, so I never saw the need. I found this gem whilst browsing through the Internet, and I have fallen in love with it and the trend. This floral beauty can be found at shopconversationpieces.com for $18.00.
7. Dresses are short of my kryptonite, so of course I have been yearning to add a galaxy dress to my collection. I think the one above is the perfect mixture of trendy and vintage. It can be found at ModCloth for $50.00.
8. I already have a leather jacket, actually, but it's a metallic mint color that only goes with a few things in my wardrobe. I've been searching high and low through thrift stores, searching for a black version, very similar to the one above. It can be found at Urban Outfitters for $49.99.
9. My friend got a pair of heart shaped sunglasses a few months back and ever since then I have been hooked. I am in love with the pair above from Plasticland. They're really affordable at only $10.00 and exactly what I am looking for.